Total sales were up 1.5 percent to $512.9 million compared with the year-ago period, according to a news release.

The department store firm reported a slight decline in comparable-store sales for the previous monthly period, saying Hurricane Sandy weighed on sales at the beginning of the period.

The Bon-Ton Stores has corporate offices in York County and Milwaukee. It operates 273 department stores, including 11 furniture galleries in 24 states under the Bon-Ton and other nameplates, the release stated.

Same-store sales for Cumberland County-based Rite Aid Corp. decreased 2.2 percent from its year-ago period and total drugstore sales for the month went down 2.7 percent to about $2.05 billion, the company said Thursday.

Rite Aid reported a 3 percent same-store sales decrease for November and total drugstore sales for the period went down 2.3 percent to nearly $2.4 billion. The company also said then that it was negatively affected by Hurricane Sandy.

As of Dec. 29, Rite Aid operated 4,630 stores, which was down by 46 versus the comparable year-ago timeframe, according to a news release.